Dr. Fischer’s primary research interests involve medical helminthology, especially filariasis and other neglected tropical diseases caused by parasitic worms. He has performed extensive field research on the diagnosis, epidemiology, and control of filarial parasites in Uganda and Indonesia, and did basic laboratory research on filarial nematodes and their endobacterial symbionts.

Dr. Fischer is also a co-investigator of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded Death to Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis (DOLF) project. DOLF studies alternative filariasis treatment strategies in large scale community trials in Asia and Africa.